Obsession
by ChibiLovett
Summary: A woman deeply in love to the point of madness. A man obsessed with causing pain and suffering. The man is the object of her affections, and she'll do anything to prove the strength of her love and earn his in return, no matter what the cost. (Sort of Sweenett. Semi-graphic violence and non-graphic sexual content.)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This started out as a curious attempt to do a more realistic and less romanticized version of Sweenett. What happened was...this...dark and demented thing. Sorry not sorry for the death of any feels that may be caused!

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Nellie Lovett stood in the doorway to the barber shop above her restaurant, leaning against the frame with her arms folded. As per usual, the barber's sleeves were speckled with red. This wasn't what had her worried, however. That had been her idea in the first place. "How I've lived without you all these years I'll never know!" he had said when she suggested it. His words were still crystal clear in her memory, but now he seemed to be ignoring her even more than usual. He went from "I can't live without you." to "You don't exist anymore." in a matter of a few short weeks. She watched him as he cleaned off his razors, restoring their original shine as the crimson liquid was slowly washed away. "Hey Mr. T, could I talk to you for a moment?"

At first he said nothing.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" Nellie entered the room and walked over behind him. "I said can I talk to you?"

"If you must." he finally grumbled.

"Whatever happened to us, love? I mean, we didn't have anything great going, but you've been treating me like I don't bloody well exist anymore."

The barber remained silent and did not reply to her.

"See? You won't even answer me. Why?"

"You want to know why?"

"Yes!"

Sweeney set down the cloth he had been using, but kept the razor firmly within his grasp. He turned around and faced the pie maker, his eyes glistening with something Nellie couldn't quite make out. "Because you're driving me mad."

"What am I doing that's doing that?"

Sweeney sat silent for a few more moments, weighing his options on how to answer. The truth was, he had been recently becoming overcome by certain urges, urges that he was a bit ashamed to admit. He wanted the woman. He wanted her so much he had begun to occasionally dream about it. But he did not love her. He had fallen deeply in lust, not love.

"What? Not going to answer me again?"

Finally, he decided what to do. Words were useless and would just waste time. He would simply show her. She made it overwhelmingly clear that she wanted him, so he highly doubted that she would argue. Within seconds, his lips were pushed against hers for a passionate kiss.

Nellie was wide-eyed from the surprise and pulled away for a moment, her cheeks practically glowing a dark pink. "Did you really just do that? I'm not dreaming?"

"It was real."

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

"No change. This is what it's been the whole time."

The woman's cheeks turned from pink to red and she looked up at him, still rather confused but definitely not complaining. "Do you...?"

"No, my dear, I'm afraid I do not."

Her confusion increased tenfold as her heart sunk into her stomach. He just kissed her, but he didn't love her? Then why else would he do it? "You don't? Then why did you...?" Tears began to swell in her big, brown eyes.

The barber raised his free hand and tucked some stray hair behind her ear. "Because you're beautiful."

Nellie's cheeks blushed again at the compliment, though she was no less confused. "Are you being honest?"

"Of course. After seeing your intelligence show through and then the look in your eyes while we danced, my own eyes were finally opened."

A single tear trickled from her eye, falling onto the barber's hand that was still cupping her cheek. "But you don't...love me?"

"I'm sorry, my dear, but I do not."

Nellie looked down at the ground, his words shattering her heart into a million pieces.

As Sweeney gazed into her brown orbs, glistening with beautiful sorrow, she only seemed all the more enchanting to him. He decided to just do what he wanted and see what happened. She may never look quite this lovely again. After making this decision, he shoved the razor in his pocket without her noticing, kissed her again, and wrapped his arms around her to pull her in close.

Though her better judgment told her to pull away, Nellie simply couldn't. She had been waiting for this for far too long. She had dreamed about it more than she cared to admit, though admittedly in her dreams he actually loved her back. Besides, she had always been an optimist and retained a little glimmer of hope. Maybe if she indulged him for long enough he would grow to love her. Even if he didn't, she'd do it purely because it would make him happy. As much as she may have to suffer knowing her feelings still weren't returned, it would be worth it if she ever got to see a smile grace his handsome face even one more time because of it.

While Sweeney kissed her blood red lips, he could taste not only her, but also the salty flavor of freshly cried tears. It made the kiss bitter, but he still didn't want to pull away. When she lifted her own arms up and wrapped them around his neck, pulling herself in even closer, he definitely didn't want to. Instead he moved his kisses to her neck and let his hands trace the outline of her figure, following each curve. Reluctantly, he pulled away for just a moment.

Nellie was slightly confused, but didn't even have time to utter the first word of a question before he knocked her off her feet and into his arms. He was actually carrying her like a husband would carry his wife to their honeymoon. She felt her cheeks going pink again and wrapped her arms around his neck again for support. For a man who didn't love her, he sure was romantic.

He looked down at her and the corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly into a hint of a smile. Having waited so long for even that much, she returned his smile and kissed him again as he carried her to her room then gently laid her on the bed. He looked down at her again. The slight smile had morphed into a smirk.

As she looked up at him, her heart dropped into her stomach. The wild look in his eyes terrified her instantly. She didn't know what he had planned, only that whatever it was couldn't possibly be good on her end.

Sweeney gazed down at the weak and defenseless woman that lay trembling before him. Her obvious fear only made her even more desirable. It was beautiful...and he wanted more of it. She was his now and he had a sneaky suspicion that she would do whatever he wanted her to, no matter what it was.

Unable to move aside from the involuntary bit of shaking, the baker began to panic internally when she noticed him pull his razor out of his pocket. In all her dreams and fantasies nothing like this had ever happened. No, this was far more akin to a horrible nightmare that she couldn't escape from. There was no waking up from this one, no relief from knowing it was all in her head. This was completely and undeniably real.

The man slithered onto the bed and on top of Nellie, immediately planting a forceful (and slightly painful) kiss on her lips. This time the bitterness of her tears was gone as they fell to the side instead of straight down, so it was even better than before.

Still the wretched woman couldn't bring herself to oppose him. She could have fought and he might have let her go, but she didn't fully want to. As painful as it was, she still loved him and would do anything for him. If that meant suffering through a few nights of his sadistic idea of sex, then she would bite her tongue and endure it. Maybe showing her devotion this deeply would finally earn his love. When he pulled away a little and she felt the sting of the razor across the bit of one of her breasts already exposed by her dress, she bit down hard on her bottom lip and her fingers gripped the sheets beneath them tightly. A small price to pay to make him happy and possibly get him to love her back. She could feel the blood running down from the slit and wondered for a moment how deep it had truly been.

Sweeney was almost disappointed with her reaction, or rather, her lack thereof. He wanted to hear her scream, but she kept almost completely silent. He wanted to see her eyes glisten with pain, but she closed them. He'd simply have to try harder. Before their time was done, he would get what he wanted.


	2. Chapter 2

That night repeated endlessly for a few more weeks, getting progressively worse. One day, Nellie threw on her usual cheery attitude for the customers and, luckily, as usual, they believed it. Really she was scared to death of what was to come as soon as the shop closed and the place emptied. Her dress now hid at least sixteen different wounds in various stages of healing (There had been more, but they were all healed.) and failed to hide one scar that had developed on the upper part of her left breast, though most of the damage couldn't be seen by others even if she had stripped naked right there in front of them. She almost regretted it all, but kept reminding herself of the possible outcome of agreeing to do it.

Toby, ever more observant and smarter than he let on to be, seemed to pick up on her stress. Once the day was over, he met her in the sitting room, where she was laying on a couch with her eyes closed. "Ma'am? Is there something wrong?"

Nellie opened one eye and glanced over at him for a quick second before closing it again. "Nothing at all. Everything's alright, love. Nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure? I've noticed some people seem to be looking at you strangely, and you don't seem very happy."

With the way he said "some people", Nellie immediately knew who he was referring to. She couldn't tell the poor lad what was happening. Who knows what it would do to him? "I'm fine. Just a bit overworked. These old bones aren't what they used to be, that's for sure."

"Well...if you say so. But I just wanted to make sure you knew that if there were someone bad around, like a monster or an ogre or anything, that I wouldn't let them get you."

Nellie opened her eye and looked at the boy again. "Now what brought all this on?"

"I just worry about you, ma'am...that's all."

The woman sat up and held her arms out to invite him over. He sat next to her and laid his head on her shoulder as she held him tightly and smiled. "I really am fine, love. There's no need to worry about me." Never had a more untrue lie escaped her lips, but the boy had admittedly grown to become almost like a son to her. She didn't want him worrying about something he could do nothing to change if she could help it. It probably wouldn't work, but she could at least try to set his mind at ease.

"Whatever you say..."

He didn't sound like he believed her, but at least she could offer him a little bit of comfort by consoling him as best she could. "Promise me you'll at least try not to worry, alright?"

"Alright, ma'am. I'll try."

"That's my good boy." She let go of him, throwing on a quick smile, and he sat up. "Now why don't you go get yourself some gin. I think you deserve it tonight."

He returned her smile. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Of course, darling. Now go on then. Let me rest up a bit more."

"Alright." He got up and left the room, leaving Nellie all alone again, hardly any less worried than when he had first walked in.

The baker laid down, made herself comfortable, and shut her eyes again for what she hoped would be a little more well-deserved rest. She was quickly awakened, however, by the sound of footsteps coming closer to her. She turned her head and saw Sweeney standing next to her, looking very sad. "I'm so terribly sorry." Nellie could do nothing but stare and blink, awestruck by his sudden change of heart. He kneeled down on the ground next to her then took her hand in his. "I've made an awful mistake. Could you ever forgive me?"

"Forgive what exactly?" She had a pretty good idea of what he would be apologizing for, but wanted to be absolutely sure.

"What I've been doing to you. I feel like a monster, doing those kinds of things to you of all people."

Nellie smiled and sat up, moving her legs off the couch so that she could turn and face him, making sure that her hand remained within his grasp. "It's alright, love. I honestly never blamed you to begin with."

"I also want to apologize for the things I said. I was wrong and just didn't want to admit it because I felt like I was being unfaithful to Lucy still. I do love you."

When he uttered that final sentence, the baker's heartbeat quadrupled in speed. "Could you...could you repeat that? I'm not quite sure I heard it right."

"I love you, Nellie Lovett." Following that, a genuinely happy smile actually crept across his face, something she hadn't seen since before he got hauled away.

Her heart now felt like it was trying to fly out of her mouth. She had heard him correctly. He loved her. Her plan had worked. She had actually won his love! Overwhelmed by everything that was happening, all she could think of to do was to throw her arms around him and hug him tightly. "I love you too, Mr. T!" Before she knew it, happy tears were streaming from her eyes like waterfalls. "I love you, I love you, I love you!"

He then pulled out of the embrace only enough to look at her glistening brown eyes. He leaned in closer, his lips nearly touching hers...

...when Nellie awoke suddenly lying on the couch. She quickly looked around and saw he was nowhere in sight, but heard footsteps coming down the hall. It took a moment for her to realize what had just happened. She must have dozed off while she was resting and had been dreaming, but the dream had been so vivid! It had seemed so real! She didn't know whether to mourn the loss of the single good dream she'd had since all of this madness began or to try and go back to sleep to see if she could continue it.

Her question was answered for her when she heard the footsteps stop in the doorway. "Come on then. Let's go."

The barber's voice sent chills all through her body, but she didn't dare disobey. Reluctantly, she got up and followed him out, still hoping beyond hope that her suffering would pay off soon.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:**__ I feel the need to apologize yet again, both for my lateness and for the content of this final chapter. For the former, both of my jobs have been incredibly busy and I've hardly written anything. DX For the latter, I knew it was going to happen, but I could think of no other way to end this twisted little journey into the depths of two very different types of madness. Sorry not sorry!_

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Another week passed and hell had become part of the basic routine for Nellie. She had more fresh wounds and even more beginning to heal, but she hardly even noticed them by now. While they were being made they were still painful, but after that it was as if they weren't even there...with one exception. Just after switching the sign to "sold out", she placed her hand on her neck and rubbed one spot near the front. He had made a shallow incision there the night before for god knows whatever reason. It still stung, but it wasn't entirely physical pain. She could have easily died and he was still having fun.

On the other hand, he could have easily killed her, but he didn't. He could kill her every time they did that. He had a razor and she basically gave him free reign to do whatever he wanted, including occasional blindfolding if he was on a bigger power trip than usual. It had to mean something that he kept her alive. Maybe he really was growing feelings for her.

So buried had she been in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed Toby wander up to Sweeney's shop. All she knew was that she suddenly seemed to be busier and eventually stopped hearing his cheerful voice greeting and helping guests, advertising, and shooing away the annoying beggar woman. He'd never missed work like that and had always told her he loved doing it anyways. The only reason she could think of for it was maybe he was actually starting to rebel for the first time in his life. Luckily today hadn't been that busy.

At the end of the day, she decided to go up and ask Sweeney if he'd seen him, but as soon as she opened the door her heart sank into her stomach. Toby was huddled up in a corner, shaking violently and covered in blood. Sweeney stood before him, tall and proud, his face twisted with anger and a sick, sadistic pleasure. When he heard the door chime from being opened, he immediately turned his head up look at the baker. "Wh...what are you doing?" she muttered, her voice shaking as she held back tears.

"He started threatening me, saying that if I ever hurt you he'd kill me himself."

"But...M-mr. T...he's just a boy, and he was only looking out for my safety."

"Your safety is not his concern."

"Please let him go. I'll keep-"

Her words were cut short by Sweeney lifting a hand to point his razor at her, his eyes and expression making it clear that he wouldn't think twice about killing her right then and there. "Shut up. Now go sit in the chair. I want you to see this."

Nellie obeyed and sat in the chair that usually seated his customers, her heart feeling as if it had dropped all the way to her feet by now. She loved Toby dearly, as if he were her own, but she loved Sweeney even more.

As Sweeney watched her, he immediately thought of how pathetic she was. She really would do anything for him, no questions asked. Why, he had no clue. He'd treated her worse than dirt and she still seemed to be unendingly infatuated with him. Either way, she was still gorgeous, and the stress she was clearly under at that moment only made her even more so. Now was the time to top it off. He'd given her plenty of physical pain, but he wanted more. He wanted to see her eyes shine with a light that could only be achieved by immense internal pain.

He picked up the boy, who was too weak already to even try and fight, roughly by the arm then forced him down onto his knees and held his forehead, exposing his throat. Nellie raised her hands to cover her mouth, her eyes going wide. She shook her head and repeatedly mumbled, "No, no, please God, no." Tears began to flow freely as she watched him raise the sharp piece of steel to the boy's throat. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and shut her eyes as the razor was dragged across the flesh of the young boy, ending his short life. She heard a thud as his body fell over and opened her eyes again. Seeing him lie there, she slid off the chair and onto her knees on the ground, all emotion wiped clean from her face aside from one final tear that still managed to fall.

Sweeney approached her and lifted her head up by placing his razor under her chin. He studied her eyes intently but saw no clear agony or suffering. Instead what he saw was mostly emptiness; nothing. But after a few moments he began to notice a slight glimmer of emotion, though it wasn't negative. A faint shine could be seen within them, a glimmer of hope. He could see love and unrivaled devotion, but all of these were buried deep and barely visible. "I had to do it. He would've killed me if I hadn't."

"I understand perfectly." Her voice was soft and low, completely lacking in the shakiness it had only moments earlier and revealing as little emotion as her eyes and her expression.

"He is dead now. You'll have to take care of the restaurant on your own."

"That's alright. I can handle it."

"You're really fine with this?"

"If it's what you want, then of course I am." The truth was, the poor woman had just been torn apart after watching that horrific display, but she'd never admit it. She hoped that this would finally be enough to prove herself and earn his love, and she didn't want anything to ruin that chance. When Sweeney smiled an evil smirk down at her, her heart lifted because of the simple fact he was smiling.

"Do you still love me, even after that?"

"Yes, of course." She said quietly with a faint smile creeping across her face.

The barber almost felt a bit sad, gazing down at the pitiful creature on the ground before him. She was literally bowing at his feet, so desperate to gain his affections that she was even forgiving him for killing a boy she had considered her own son. She was truly a wonderful woman and deserved love and happiness, but she'd never get it trailing after him. He could never love her for precisely that reason. Her obsession with him was pathetic. "You really are my pet, aren't you?"

Nellie said nothing in return, only continued gazing up at him.

The sides of Sweeney's mouth raised only slightly, allowing a smirk to form. "You really are all mine."

"Yes." The wretched woman's eyes finally began to reveal some of what she was feeling, glistening with the pain and suffering he had been waiting for as a single tear quickly fell down her cheek. "All yours."


End file.
